Now I’m Talking to Sophie!

It’s getting late and the guests are returning to their rooms upstairs. At this time of night, Helmine’s work hours are over and she has already gone to bed.

The only ones left in the tavern on the first floor are a few adventurers who are lying on the floor in a drunken state. Their companions had probably returned to their rooms earlier in disgust, and were left alone.

We couldn’t clean them if they were left like this, so Rosa carried them up, to their rooms.

Like a slave, she has to do the physical work. It was socially unacceptable to help, so me, Pops and Sophie gathered at the counter and waited for the work to be done.

「We just barely made it through today, didn’t we?」

The old man, looking tired, let out a sigh. He was rubbing his overworked arm with care.

The restaurant was packed every day, and the kitchen was running at full speed until closing time. Pops was the only one cooking, so it was a heavy workload. Even a man of his stature would have a hard time working with the pans for hours on end.

「Leave it to me.」

Sophie took Pops’s hand and used her Healing Magic.

「I’m sorry about that. The pain is gone.」
「I’m renting a room for free.」
「You’re in the same room as Helmine, so it’s not surprising that I don’t take money from you.」
「But it was really nice for me, because I had nowhere to go. That’s why I’m thanking you.」
「No, well, when you put it that way, I appreciate it. ……」

He was embarrassed and stammered as he looked at the ceiling.

If this were Helmine or Sophie, it would be cute, but when a middle-aged man does it, it’s just weird.

The world is a cruel place, because even when we do the same thing, we are evaluated in opposite ways.

「Why don’t you just say thank you?」

Pops came close to my face, almost grabbing me, so I held him back with my hand.

「All right, all right, I’m sorry.」
「It’s okay if you understand.」

I guess he was surprised that I apologized so honestly. The momentum of the conversation died down and he pulled away.

The flow of the conversation stopped, and I got sure of what I wanted to ask.

「We’ll talk about Sophie later, but have you decided if you’re going to expand the store?　　The deadline for your answer was tomorrow, right?」

When Regina came to the store a few days ago, she proposed that Zelma would fund the expansion of the store. He was surprised to hear that Zelma was willing to provide the funds to open a second store if the business was doing well.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that the Nobleman has awakened to free love.

It’s definitely a strategy to ingratiate herself with Sophie and me, as well as to deal with Yang’s rapidly growing population.

「According to Lars’ prediction, there will be more people in the future, right?」
「Yes, the more the village turns into a city, the more the population will grow.」
「If that’s the case, we’ll have to make the inn even bigger. We don’t have to repay the loan, so there’s no reason to refuse.」

If we refuse without any particular reason, we’ll be disgraced. From Pops’s point of view, it’s a natural decision since there’s little risk involved.

All that’s left is for me and Sophie to do our best and contribute to Zelma. I didn’t feel bad as long as the people around us would be happy.

「I have a meeting with Regina-sama tomorrow, so I’ll let her know while I’m at it.」
「You’re meeting with a Noblewoman? You’ve risen to the top, haven’t you? Maybe she likes you?」

It’s not good for Helmine’s education, to be laughing so vulgarly.

You can’t be too careful, because sometimes the words you say are just random, but they capture the truth. I hid my inner impatience and tried to keep my voice as normal as possible.

「I’m supposed to report on the state of security in Yang. It’s vigilante work, so there’s no special meaning to it.」

Are you going to tell me to whisper my love in bed?

To that Zelma?

I get chills just thinking about it.

I don’t think I’m going to be able to afford it, even if you were to offer me a huge pile of gold coins!

「Don’t be stupid. Even if, I had an intimate relationship with the aristocrats, but at the end, it won’t be a good thing, right?」
「No way! You’d better be careful not to get chopped off.」

He laughed again in a vulgar voice and tapped me on the shoulder.

I don’t intend to get along any better with the nobles, but I’ll have to live up to their expectations so that they don’t really cut me off.